a) Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a microscope with a table or stage which is adjustable in coordinates X, Y and/or Z, with a drive for stage adjustment and with a control circuit for presetting different adjusting speeds.
b) Description of the Related Art
In optical precision instrument engineering, all-purpose routine microscopes outfitted with electromechanically driven functional components are known. Microscopes of this type have, for example, a high-precision positioning device for stage focusing, a motorized condenser function, coded specimen and reflector turrets, an objective-dependent brightness control coupled with the objective turret, an automatic balancing of focusing speed and focusing position of the utilized objectives and, if necessary, also the possibility of linking the microscope to a PC via a RS232 interface.
A construction of this kind corresponds, for example, to the Zeiss microscope known under the brand name "Axioskop 2 MOT". In addition to the above-mentioned equipment, an LED line is provided in this case for displaying the brightness adjusted in transmitted-light operation. The operating voltage applied to the light source is used as a quantity proportional to the brightness in order to show the adjusted brightness; the higher the operating voltage, the more LEDs are illuminated in the LED line.
The stage adjustment can be carried out at different speeds for stage focusing when changing objectives depending on the programming of the sequence. It is disadvantageous in microscopes of this type that there is no display available to show the speed at which the stage adjustment is carried out. This deficiency becomes noticeable particularly when programming the microscope for different applications and operating modes. Accordingly, it is difficult to reproduce values of the adjusting speed that have already been adjusted. Also, fine speed gradations which can not be detected visually through the eyepiece are difficult to distinguish.